“The Federal Reserve has begun reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities, and this will put additional, modest upward pressure on mortgage rates,” said the MBA’s Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni. “We expect that the 10-year Treasury rate will stay below 3 percent through the end of 2018, and 30-year mortgage rates will stay below 5 percent.”

According to the MBA’s predictions, rates will increase to 4.6 percent in 2018, 5 percent in 2019, and 5.3 percent in 2020. The National Association of REALTORS® predicts rates to end the year at 4.5 percent, while realtor.com® expects mortgage rates to average 4.6 percent throughout the year and hit 5 percent by the year’s end.